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(RoModeL) W. H. SEWARD. Dredging Bucket.

No. 234,691. Patented Nov. 23,1880.

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FETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON u C.

IlNrran STATES ATENT @FFICE,

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

DREDGING-BUCKET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 234,691, dated November 23, 1880.

Application filed March 22, 1880.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. SEWARD, of the city and county of Albany, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Buckets for Hoisting Goal, 850., of which the following is a full and exact description.

This invention relates to buckets that are commonly known as the clam-shell variety, which consists of a bucket made in two sections pivoted at theirintersecting centers to a cross-bar fixed at the lower end of a yokeframe, the side pieces of said frame being pro- .vided with slotted openings, in which are placed the slitting bearings of a cross-shaft, which shaft is provided with sheaves connected by chains to the lower cross-bar of the yokeframe, in such manner that when the crossshaft is partially revolved by its moving mechanism the said shaft will be drawn down nearer to the cross-bar, thereby causing the links connecting the cross shaft with the bucket-sections to diverge in such manner as to force the two bucket-sections to close together.

My invention consists in combining with the cross-shaft of the bucket-moving mechanism a segmental sheave adapted to revolve freely on said shaft, and provided with a shifting weight pivoted thereto in such manner that it will give a preponderance of weight to the side of the sheave that is required to move in a downward direction to enable the hoistingchain to wind upon the quadrant-sheave, as hereinafter described. The said segmental sheave is also provided with a pawl arranged to engage in a notch formed in the periphery of a disk secured to the cross-shaft by the side of said sheave, so as to lock the segmental sheave and cross-shaft together.

My invention further consists, in combination with the foregoing mechanism, of a pawl made in two parts, as herein described. One part-the major part-having a pivotal center fixed to the segmental sheave, is arranged to operate by its gravity, and the other part pivoted to the first to form a joint between the pivotal center of the first part and the engaging-point of the pawl, so that it can be easily retracted from the notch of the disk while bearing the pressure of the load.

(No model.)

In the accompanying drawings, which form V side elevation of a bucket and its moving mechanism containing my invention, the bucket-sections being shown in their opened positions. In thisfigure, portions of the yokeframe and segmental sheave are broken away to show underlying parts, and the segmental sheave and pawl are shown by dotted lines. when in the position required to lock the segmental sheave and cross-shaft together. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, showing the position of the parts when the bucket-sections are closed together; Fig. 8, a front elevation of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 a detached view of the loose segmental sheave and its shifting weight. I

A is the yoke-frame, having side pieces provided with the slots to and connected together at their lower ends by the cross-bar a. At the center of the upper member of said yokeframe there is an opening, a through which the hoisting-chain passes.

The two sections forming the bucket B are made alike, and substantially in the form shown in the drawings. They are pivoted at their inner upper corners to the cross-bar a of the yoke-frame, so as to have a swinging movement thereon, and they are connected at their outer upper corners by means of the connecting-rods b to the sliding cross-shaft in such manner that the rise and fall of the said shaft will respectively effect the opening and closing of the bucket.

When the two bucket-sections are closed together their contiguous edges should form a close joint, as shown in Fig. 2.

The cross-shaft 0 is arranged to revolve in bearings 0, which have a sliding movement in the slots a of the yoke-frame. Two small segmental sheaves, D, are secured to said crossshaft, and are connected by the chains d to the cross-bar a, in such manner that when the shaft 0 is revolved in the right direction the said chains will wind upon the sheaves D and draw the shaft 0 down closer to the cross-bar. At the middle of the shaftG is placed thelarge segmental sheave E, which is made to fit loosely on said shaft, so that either the shaft or sheave can rotate without affecting the other. The hoisting-chain F is secured to the sheave E at e, and the check-chain f is secured to said sheave at e, and, running from thence to the hoisting-chain, forms an inverted Y with the hoisting-chain when the bucket is suspended on the latter. A swinging weight, G, is attached to the side of the sheave E by the pivot g, and is arranged in such manner that when the segment stands above the shaft 0 the said weight will rest upon the stud g and extend in a horizontal line, thereby giving to that side of the sheave a preponderance of weight that will cause the sheave to revolve in that direction until, by bringing the center of gravity of the sheave itself to fall at that side of the axis of rotation, suflicientimpetnsis given to the sheave to carry it around far enough, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, to effect the locking of said sheave to the shaft 0, in the manner hereinafter described. The segmental sheave E is also provided with a pawl composed of the part H, pivoted, by the stud h, to the side ofsaid sheave, and the part H jointed to the part H by the pivot h. The point of the part H engages in the notch "5, formed in the periphery of the disk I, secured to the shaft 0, thereby locking the sheave E to said shaft in such manner that as soon as the direction of the motion of the sheave is reversed the sheave and shaft will move together. By making the pawl in two parts,jointed together as herein shown and described, the point of the part H is more readily retracted from the notch i than where a pawl made in the usual form is used.

The sections of the bucket B being open and supported, and the parts being in the position shown in Fig. 1, the operation will be as follows: The hoistingchain F is first slacked off to permit the weight G to turn the sheave E in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. until the point of the pawl H enters the notch t. Then, by hoisting on the chain F, the sheave E is revolved in a reversed direction, carrying with it the shaft C and sheaves D, and causing the chains d to wind on the latter, thereby drawing the shaft 0 down toward the cross-bar a, and forcing the lower ends of the connecting-rods b apart, so that the two sections of the bucket B will close together. The parts will then be arranged in the position shown in Fig. 2. The check-chain f, by preventing the sheave E from revolving, enables the hoisting-chain F to lift the bucket and its contents to the required height, and to sustain the load until it is swung to the dumping-place. The point of the pawl H can then be retracted from the notchz' by moving the two parts of the pawl into the positions shown in Fig. 1, and then the weight of the bucket and its load will cause the chains (1 to unwind from the sheaves 1), thereby permitting the shaft 0 to rise and open the bucketsections, so as to release the load therefrom.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination, with the bucket B, sliding cross-shaftG,connecting-rods b, segmental sheaves D, and chains (1, of the loose segmental sheave E, provided with the shifting weight G and pawl H, disk I, and hoistingchain F, all constructed and arranged to operate as herein specified.

2. The combination, with the disk I, secured to the shaft 0, and provided with the notch i, as described, of the loose sheave E, provided with a pawl composed of the part H, arranged to turn on a pivot, h, and the part H, pivot-ed to the part H by the pin h, as and for the purpose herein specified.

\VILLIAM H. SEWVARD. Witnesses WILLIAM H. Low, 0. A. HAMLIN. 

